RFU's hits back at Danny Care’s ‘dictator’ claims : Planet Rugby

The Rugby Football Union has released a statement hitting back at claims made by former England international Danny Care about the Eddie Jones tenure being a “dictatorship”.

An excerpt from Care’s upcoming autobiography, Everything Happens for a Reason, surfaced this week where he touched on life under the infamous Jones who held the head coach position for England between 2015-2022.

The Jones era

The Jones era in England was mostly successful with three Six Nations titles during that period, one of which was a Grand Slam. The coach was known for his alternative methods of dealing with players including scheduling meetings he did not attend in order to observe who the natural leaders are in the group based on the players’ reactions.

That was one of many different tactics from the veteran coach which contributed to Care’s comments.

“Did Eddie rule by fear? Of course he did,” he wrote.

“Everyone was bloody terrified of him. Remember what it felt like when someone was being bullied at school and you were just glad it wasn’t you? That was the vibe.”

Danny Care: Eddie Jones’ England like a ‘dystopian novel’ as scrum-half opens up on ‘dictatorship’

Naturally, the comments set the online world ablaze with debates surfacing about Jones’ methods. This has since led to a statement being released by the RFU claiming that no complaints were made through the support services offered during the Jones era.

“The elite game is a high-performance environment, and we recognise the demands of this can be challenging which is why we offer a range of support services for players,” a spokesperson said.

“During his time with England, there were no complaints made about Eddie Jones by players either to the RFU or via anonymous feedback surveys or through our confidential whistleblowing service.

“The RFU’s confidential whistleblowing service which is for all players and staff, it is promoted every season, and we always investigate any concerns raised. We have been in contact with Danny Care, he has made it clear he doesn’t want to take any formal action and that he also has high praise for Eddie in many areas of his book.”

After Eddie

Jones was sacked late in December and replaced by one of his former assistants, Steve Borthwick, who has a more calm and pragmatic approach to the game.

The current boss did well to get England in shape for the 2023 Rugby World Cup where they very nearly beat eventual champions South Africa in the semi-finals and had to settle for bronze.

The side has grown but is at risk of becoming rugby’s ‘nearly men’ after failing to close out several big games against the All Blacks in 2024.

READ MORE: England v Australia: Steve Borthwick’s five selection headaches

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